THERE is a lot on TV and radio now about climate change, it is cropping up more and more in documentaries like Blue Planet, the news and weather reports, and there are some questions you might like to ask about what it means to us.

Jill Bruce Women's Institute Climate Ambassador answers those questions here.

Q. Where has all this carbon dioxide they talk about come from?

A. Burning fossil fuels, that is coal, oil and gas, sometimes in our own fires, cars and boilers, sometimes in power stations to make electricity. Think of how few families had a car, or central heating, or fridge, in the 1950s, and how many there are now!

Q. Why does 2 or 3 degrees warming matter? The weather often changes more than that day by day, and 2 or 3 degrees warmer sounds rather nice!

A. Our local weather day by day is very influenced by whether the sun is shining or rain is pelting down, and by wind direction, bringing us Siberian weather one day and Southern Mediterranean weather the next. Even though an increase of 2 or 3 degrees in global temperature doesn’t sound much, global average temperature during the last ice age was only 4 to 5 degrees cooler than now. Small changes in global average temperature cause big changes in our climate.

Q. How much has our world warmed up so far?

A. About 1 degree. We really need to stop it going above 1.5 degrees to prevent very uncomfortable climate change in the UK, with much more frequent and severe heatwaves, droughts, storms and flooding

Q. If all emissions of greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide, completely stopped tomorrow, how long would it take for the world to cool back down that 1 degree?

A.Hundreds, if not thousands, of years. It takes a very long time to transfer carbon to the deep ocean and bury it.

Q. Is there any faster way to get rid of the extra carbon dioxide we have made through burning fossil fuels?

A. Trees are the most advanced technology currently available to absorb carbon. Plant as many as you can!

Q. Is there anything else I can do to slow down, or prevent, more climate change?

A. Yes, lots of really easy, cheap, healthy things! Meat, especially beef and dairy, create a lot of greenhouse gases. Switching to a cheaper, healthier diet with more vegetables and smaller portions of meat, or eating fish, chicken or maybe even the occasional vegetarian meal instead will help a lot. Walk or cycle if you can, use a bus instead of your car. Switch to an energy provider that only uses renewable energy, there are lots of them that are at least as cheap as the others. And put on a warm jumper instead of turning up your heating

Source: "The Royal Society, Climate Change, Evidence and Causes."